Integration of digital slide-based self-directed learning with the post-class video-recording assignments into oral pathology and diagnosis course can improve dental students’ learning outcomes and microscopic diagnosis capability

Virtual microscopy has long been used in oral pathology laboratory teaching. This study evaluated whether adding post-class video-recording assignments to digital slide-based self-directed learning (SDL) in an undergraduate oral pathology and diagnosis course could enhance dental students’ learning outcomes, microscopic interpretation ability, and microscopic diagnosis capability. Fourth-year dental students enrolled in a one-year oral pathology and diagnosis course at the dental school of National Taiwan University (NTU) were included. The experimental group comprised 32 dental students of the 2024 academic year, while the control group included 41 dental students of the 2023 academic year. Both groups used digital slide-based SDL for the course learning. In addition, the experimental group completed post-class video-recording assignments to assess their impact on the learning performance. Furthermore, we also evaluated whether the post-class video-recording assignments could enhance dental students’ microscopic interpretation ability and microscopic diagnosis capability. Performance on the post-class video-recording assignments showed moderate positive correlations with both microscopic pathology slide test scores and overall course grades (Pearson's r = 0.44 and 0.43, respectively). The students who completed the post-class video-recording assignments demonstrated significantly greater improvement in microscopic interpretation ability than those who did not (both P -values <0.01). We conclude that integrating digital slide-based SDL into an oral pathology and diagnosis course improves dental students' learning performance. Furthermore, incorporating post-class video-recording assignments enhances dental students’ microscopic interpretation ability and microscopic diagnosis capability.